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or usually are, dealt with, I have nothing to say upon that point. I will merely state, that the North Carolina prisoners, numbering about six hundred, exclusive of their commissioned officers, were confined in eight casemates. They were thus terribly crowded. During the first two or three days they had scarcely anything to eat. I do not know the cause of this, but the fact is, that they absolutely suffered from hunger. Afterwards they received their rations regularly, and large boilers were placed in front of their quarters for them to cook in. These were in the open air, and not in any way sheltered, and the men had to cook there in all kinds of weather, during the time they remained, which was until they were exchanged in February, 1862.
In front of the range of rooms occupied by the "political prisoners," and about ten yards off, sentinels were placed, and beyond them we were not allowed to go. The officers who were prisoners of war, were permitted to walk about the whole island, both within and without the Fort, on their parole; but we were confined to the space some hundred yards long, by ten wide, between our quarters and the line of sentinels just mentioned. This regulation was enforced for nearly six months, and as we understood at the time, was specifically directed by the Government. During that time, we were kept strictly within those narrow bounds. Why men who were taken with arms in their hands were less rigorously treated than we, was obvious. The Confederate Government could exact certain rights for them, but there was no power or law in this part of the country, to protect us. The day after our arrival, I wrote to my wife this hurried account of our journey from Fort La Fayette.
"Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, Saturday Nov. 2d.
"We have arrived here safely, and a more uncomfortable set of human beings have never, I trust, been collected before in these quarters. We left Fort La Fayette on Wednesday morning, and together with the prisoners from Fort Columbus, came here on one of the Sound steamers. There were about four times as many on board as the vessel could accommodate, and the only food which the Gov-
